7.4 A Translocated Landscape
127
We suggest extending the concept further and speaking not just of the homeland
landscapes being transported but “translocated”, a term used by Tim Flannery in an
article on the zoo-geography of New Ireland [8]. The translocation of the homeland
landscape is not simply a matter of introducing domesticated plants and animals to
a new colony. It involves, more comprehensively, the translocation of cultural technologies and skills and of the social structures that preserve them and enable the
colonists to assist with the adaptation and survival of the introduced plants and animals on which they will depend for survival. It was by carrying with them what we
would describe metaphorically as an “ark of resources”, in this extended sense, that
the Spice Island colonists could establish the horticultural and animal husbandry
and fishing skills that their culture was built on. By including in each migration
experts able to practise and teach traditional skills and technologies from all areas,
they guaranteed not just the perpetuation of their homeland societies in a new environment but also secured the possibility of having the future human resources to
accomplish the adaptations and evolutions needed to meet the new demands and
challenges and possibilities of that new environment.
Perhaps of central importance in the ark of resources that Spice Island colonists
carried into the Pacific was the “ark” itself, the maritime technologies they had
evolved in the Spice Islands over tens of thousands of years. They had skills
which enabled them to build canoes – not crude dug-outs as the name suggests –
though indeed they were crafted using only stone axes and were held together with
plaited vines – but ocean-going vessels. They had astronomical knowledge that
enabled them to navigate at sea, to follow star paths, and they could read winds
and waves and currents. It is possible that Lapita-age Spice Island colonists travelled in Halmaherian double-masted, double-outriggers, and they probably travelled
in a fleet of six or seven canoes. (The earliest oral migration traditions mentioned
in Chapter 5 describe such fleets.) Spice Island technologies provided a sophisticated base for the evolution over time of the Polynesian canoes that Captain Cook
encountered. Cook estimated that these could sail at least a third faster than The
Endeavour and out-manoeuvre his ship. Surprisingly, the largest Polynesian doublecanoes of Cook’s era were indeed larger than The Endeavour. Where it measured
106 ft in length and was, at its widest, 29 ft 3 in., some of the larger Polynesian
double canoes measured up to 108 ft and were 50 ft wide. They had nothing
like the carrying capacity of The Endeavour and, sitting low in the water, were
unable to cope with the storminess of the higher latitudes, but they were faster
and, in the world for which they were crafted, marvellously adapted. Some could
achieve 22 knots in good conditions [9]. In the 20th century Gustav Erikson’s grain
ships averaged less than 6 knots a day (Graham Peacock, deepwaterman, personal
communication).
The “ark” – the maritime technologies – and the resources they could translocate to a new colony were vital to successful colonization. The later Eastern
Polynesian double-canoe could possibly carry 200 people. A large Halmaherian
double-outrigger may have carried only 50. Tradition suggests fleets of canoes were
used to ensure a significant founder population. It is empirically clear from the
success of the Spice Island Lapita-age colonies that the colonists understood the
127
We suggest extending the concept further and speaking not just of the homeland
landscapes being transported but “translocated”, a term used by Tim Flannery in an
article on the zoo-geography of New Ireland [8]. The translocation of the homeland
landscape is not simply a matter of introducing domesticated plants and animals to
a new colony. It involves, more comprehensively, the translocation of cultural technologies and skills and of the social structures that preserve them and enable the
colonists to assist with the adaptation and survival of the introduced plants and animals on which they will depend for survival. It was by carrying with them what we
would describe metaphorically as an “ark of resources”, in this extended sense, that
the Spice Island colonists could establish the horticultural and animal husbandry
and fishing skills that their culture was built on. By including in each migration
experts able to practise and teach traditional skills and technologies from all areas,
they guaranteed not just the perpetuation of their homeland societies in a new environment but also secured the possibility of having the future human resources to
accomplish the adaptations and evolutions needed to meet the new demands and
challenges and possibilities of that new environment.
Perhaps of central importance in the ark of resources that Spice Island colonists
carried into the Pacific was the “ark” itself, the maritime technologies they had
evolved in the Spice Islands over tens of thousands of years. They had skills
which enabled them to build canoes – not crude dug-outs as the name suggests –
though indeed they were crafted using only stone axes and were held together with
plaited vines – but ocean-going vessels. They had astronomical knowledge that
enabled them to navigate at sea, to follow star paths, and they could read winds
and waves and currents. It is possible that Lapita-age Spice Island colonists travelled in Halmaherian double-masted, double-outriggers, and they probably travelled
in a fleet of six or seven canoes. (The earliest oral migration traditions mentioned
in Chapter 5 describe such fleets.) Spice Island technologies provided a sophisticated base for the evolution over time of the Polynesian canoes that Captain Cook
encountered. Cook estimated that these could sail at least a third faster than The
Endeavour and out-manoeuvre his ship. Surprisingly, the largest Polynesian doublecanoes of Cook’s era were indeed larger than The Endeavour. Where it measured
106 ft in length and was, at its widest, 29 ft 3 in., some of the larger Polynesian
double canoes measured up to 108 ft and were 50 ft wide. They had nothing
like the carrying capacity of The Endeavour and, sitting low in the water, were
unable to cope with the storminess of the higher latitudes, but they were faster
and, in the world for which they were crafted, marvellously adapted. Some could
achieve 22 knots in good conditions [9]. In the 20th century Gustav Erikson’s grain
ships averaged less than 6 knots a day (Graham Peacock, deepwaterman, personal
communication).
The “ark” – the maritime technologies – and the resources they could translocate to a new colony were vital to successful colonization. The later Eastern
Polynesian double-canoe could possibly carry 200 people. A large Halmaherian
double-outrigger may have carried only 50. Tradition suggests fleets of canoes were
used to ensure a significant founder population. It is empirically clear from the
success of the Spice Island Lapita-age colonies that the colonists understood the